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Kabaddi World Cup

2016: India beat Iran 38-29 in finals

Dhananjay Roy, INDIA ARE CHAMPIONS, Oct 23 2016 : The Times of India

Raider Thakur Leads Hosts To Kabaddi World Cup Triumph

Minutes before the semi-final against Thailand in Oct 2016, Anup Kumar, the captain of the Indian team, told a TV presenter that the hosts were about to take the mat in what was going to be their biggest test of the Kabaddi World Cup. Surely , Anup, the battle-scarred veteran, was being modest as one saw his side simply sweep past their opponents to set up the finale against Iran.

Now, this was the contest Anup would readily agree and no one would dispute him either -to being his team's biggest test in the competition. After all, Iran are the side that has consistently been challenging India's supremacy over the years.

And as expected, the match had all the ingredients of a worthy final, with India eventually winning the trophy 38-29. This was India's third straight triumph in the tournament, with Iran finishing runners-up on each occasion.

Raider Ajay Thakur, who had been the tournament's best raider, answered some desperate cries and was the top scorer with 12 points. He finished the tournament on 64 points.

Unlike the match against Thailand where India were allowed a free run throughout the 40 minutes, they were up against the best defensive unit in the competition, who had held themselves back right until the semis against Korea.

And, Iran exercised a vicelike grip on proceedings in the opening 20 minutes when they allowed Anup's boys absolutely no room for any extravagance.Defender Fazel Atrachali was splendid once again, winning a couple of tackle points.

On the other hand, skipper Meraj Sheykh was at his dangerous best, pulling off some spectacular raids, winning five vital points. At one stage, Iran led 1813 and given their determination, the hosts were always going to find it difficult to claw back.

The true test of Pardeep Narwal's doobkis, Thakur's lightning hand touches and Surender Nada's brilliant ankle holds were put to test, but little of it was on display during this stretch of the contest.

In the 25th minute, however, Thakur brought back some energy into the Indian camp when he had both Atrachali and Sheykh off the mat in one excellent swoop. The scores were 19-16 now and the hosts were back in the mix. Gradually , India stepped up their attack with Thakur leading and with 10 minutes remaining, they had earned a vital three-point lead at 24-21.